IBM Integrates Dev Tools With Tivoli

The integration of testing and asset management tools enables software developers to more cleanly automate deployment of new apps.

IBM announced Wednesday that it has integrated IBM Rational development tools and its Tivoli systems management so that newly developed software may be automatically deployed to production in a more risk-free fashion.

By integrating the development process with deployment, a company can automate processes that combine the activities of a development team, software testing team, and data center operations team for a production environment, said Al Zollar, general manager of IBM Tivoli software in making the announcement.

The integrations allow enterprises "to automate what was previously a labor-intensive process, with the peace of mind that the new service is developed and delivered quickly and accurately," he said in the announcement.

The integrated offerings include:

Rational Test Lab Manager, which allows a test team to establish an automatic series of configuration tests and capture the results. It has been integrated with Tivoli Provisioning Manager and Tivoli Application Dependency and Discovery Manager. The integration enables companies to discover which other software a new application depends on, and to identify the correct versions of that software. It does so in both the test and production environment. Applying dependency controls in the testing phase will allow more assured operation in the production phase, Zollar said.

Rational Performance Tester and Tivoli Composite Application Manager have been integrated to allow a test environment to replicate the "real world" environment of production and apply performance data. The process finds problems and methods of resolution outside of production, leading to better performance in production, he said.

Rational Asset Manager and Tivoli Change and Configuration Management Database have also been integrated. Rational Asset Manager is a repository for an existing software asset, such as an insurance claims processing system, accompanied by information about changes to it, versions available, and what's known about the history of the files. The Asset manager protects the asset by restricting activities that affect the software to certain roles. By making this information available to the Tivoli Change and Configuration Management Database, it can be used in the redevelopment, configuration and deployment of the application.

The processes that can be automated for software deployment through the integrations of the IBM products are auditable, allowing any alterations or modifications to be traced and backed out of, if necessary. Studies have shown that many system outages are due to human error where a change made had unintended consequences.

The IBM moves also reflect a keener interest in managing the lifecycle of applications, from development and deployment into production until they are finally retired or replaced.

InformationWeek has published an in-depth report on new software models. Download the report here (registration required).

To learn more about what organizations are doing to tackle attacks and threats we surveyed a group of 300 IT and infosec professionals to find out what their biggest IT security challenges are and what they're doing to defend against today's threats. Download the report to see what they're saying.

Transformation is on every IT organization's to-do list, but effectively transforming IT means a major shift in technology as well as business models and culture. In this IT Trend Report, we examine some of the misconceptions of digital transformation and look at steps you can take to succeed technically and culturally.